Showing a More Beautiful Desktop

Interview with Spencer Scott of Stardock

What's your role at Stardock?

I am the Technology Evangelist for Stardock, and I am the administrator for Stardock websites such as WinCustomize.com and ImpulseDriven.com.

What part do videos play in your marketing and training?

Being that many of our applications are designed to customize the look and feel of the Windows desktop, having the ability to create videos with Camtasia Studio has been key in marketing our applications to potential customers, as well as our current customer base.

We also use Camtasia Studio to produce tutorials and screencasts for many of Stardock's applications. These will usually accompany written documentation and have helped users become more familiar on how to use the various features of the software we develop.

Once the videos are created, we use Screencast.com as one outlet to share them, and then they are also available on our various sites and wikis for users to have easy access to them.

How do your customers respond to the videos?

Screenshots of the desktop are one thing, but being able to produce quality video demos that actually show the products “in action” has resulted in a tremendous amount of positive feedback from users.

Did you have to persuade folks at your company that videos would be a good idea...or were they on board with it right away?

No persuasion was needed, they were completely on board and excited about the idea. With the boom in online video in recent years, it was only natural to put more resources into more dynamic means of presenting the applications and games in a visual manner.

Tell us a story about a situation where Camtasia Studio helped you out.

When we were set to release a significant update to Stardock’s MyColors, which is an application that changes the look and feel of Windows desktop, I needed to create a screencast that would take users on an introductory walkthrough of MyColors. This was needed to show people a sample of the MyColors themes that were available, and to demonstrate how MyColors works and how to use it. By using Camtasia Studio, I was able to create a complete walkthrough of the application in no time at all.

What works best for you: scripting your videos or taking a more spontaneous approach?

I have tried both methods and for me a spontaneous approach is best. I try to keep my screencasts on a more casual level, mainly because a big part of our target audience is new users, so I want them to feel comfortable when learning how to use our applications. I would prefer they watch the screencast and not feel as though it was scripted, but just coming from another Stardock user, which I still am.

When do you use Screencast.com and when do you use other hosting sites?

I use Screencast.com every single time. There are a variety of reasons, but number one for me is the fact that the videos are not compressed when uploaded, and having my videos displayed at the resolution I created them in is reason enough to use Screencast.com.

Also, the integration with Camtasia Studio and tools like the Desktop Uploader make getting those videos out to the users that much easier. Depending on what the project is, I will sometimes make a second screencast that is more optimized for other video sites that do compress the videos.

Speaking of visual clarity, do you use any special production settings within Camtasia Studio to get nice, crisp video?

For the most part I use the “Web” default settings because…well…they just work great. So most of my videos are produced as Flash SWF files with dimensions of 640x480 pixels.

Do you have any advice for someone making screencasts with Camtasia Studio?

Sure! One thing I have learned is even if you are in a crunch for time, try not to rush making the videos because you will almost always have to go back and correct something that was overlooked. Even if you take the spontaneous approach, still take some time and write down a basic plan for your screencast—that will help the recording go so much smoother.

Check out the videos in Stardock's Screencast library…